MWC adds two bowls to existing lineup

The MWC now has ties with the R+L Carrier New Orleans Bowl and Buffalo Wild Wings bowl

Members of the Aztecs color guard dance as fireworks explode just after they and the Aztecs marching band performed in the San Diego Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl halftime show at Qualcomm Stadium on Thursday.
Hayne Palmour IV

Members of the Aztecs color guard dance as fireworks explode just after they and the Aztecs marching band performed in the San Diego Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl halftime show at Qualcomm Stadium on Thursday.

With 12 teams now in the Mountain West, the league has expanded its number of bowl tie-ins for the next six years.

The league announced Thursday that it has finalized agreements with eight bowls in a system that will yield six or seven opportunities for bowl-eligible Mountain West teams in any given year.

The Mountain West re-contracted with the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl, the Gildan New Mexico Bowl, the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl and the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl.

It also entered into new agreements with the R+L Carrier New Orleans Bowl and the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.

In the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, the Mountain West is a backup for either a Big 12 or Pac-12 opponent in the event that either conference cannot fill its spot.

For two of the next six years, Mountain West teams will play in the Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, Texas) against a Big Ten opponent. The conference would vacate its slot in the Hawaii Bowl in one of those two years, and give up its spot in the Las Vegas Bowl in the other.

The biggest difference going forward is that after the Las Vegas Bowl gets its first pick from all bowl eligible teams in the Mountain West, there's no pre-determined selection order for the remaining bowls.

Instead, according to a Mountain West release, the league "will collaborate with its bowl partners to determine the annual placement of teams, with an emphasis on geographic proximity, avoiding repeat trips by any one institution and creation of the most compelling match-ups for each market."

The Mountain West will also work with other conferences and ESPN Regional Television to fill or back-up slots in eight other bowl games nationally.